Architecture and Public Policy

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CIS explores how changes in the architecture of computer networks affect the economic environment for innovation and competition on the Internet, and how the law should react to those changes. This work has lead us to analyze the issue of network neutrality, perhaps the Internet's most debated policy issue, which concerns Internet user's ability to access the content and software of their choice without interference from network providers.

Andrew McLaughlin is a technology law and policy nerd. He is Executive Director of Civic Commons, a new non-profit that help cities and other governments share and implement low-cost technologies to improve public services, management, accountability, transparency, and citizen engagement. He is also a director of Code for America. Read more » about Andrew McLaughlin

Aeryn Palmer grew up in Seattle, Washington, and attended the University of Washington, where she earned B.A.s in Classics and Ancient Near East Studies. She then attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, reading for an M.Phil. in Egyptology. Following additional graduate work in Classics at the University of Chicago, Aeryn decided to attend law school in order to pursue a career through which she could make a positive difference in the world. Read more » about Aeryn Palmer

Richard Salgado serves as Google's Director for information security and law enforcement matters. Prior to joining Google, Richard was with Yahoo!, focusing on international security and compliance work. He also served as senior counsel in the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the United States Department of Justice. As a federal prosecutor, Richard specialized in investigating and prosecuting computer network cases, such as computer hacking, illegal computer wiretaps, denial of service attacks, malicious code, and other technology-driven privacy crimes. Read more » about Richard Salgado

Ben Scott is a Visiting Fellow at the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung in Berlin and Senior Adviser to the Open Technology Institute at the New America Foundation in Washington DC. Previously, he was Policy Advisor for Innovation at the US Department of State, where he worked at the intersection of technology and foreign policy. In a small team of advisors to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he helped to steward the 21st Century Statecraft agenda with a focus on technology policy, social media and development. Read more » about Ben Scott

Yesterday, news emerged (or was officially leaked) that the President will announce an initiative designed to bolster American Internet security: the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center. Based on the post-9/11 designed National Counterterrorism Center (CTC), this new organization purportedly will serve as an 'intelligence fusion center' within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and work with the private sector in developing and sharing information and analysis related Internet security threats, vulnerabilities, trends, and situational awareness. Read more » about Information sharing to the cyber-rescue, again!

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While AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon have argued -- with incredible message discipline -- that network neutrality is "a solution in search of a problem," that's simply not true.

There are many concrete examples of network neutrality violations around the world. These network neutrality violations include ISPs blocking websites and applications, ISPs discriminating in favor of some applications and against others, and ISPs charging arbitrary tolls on technology companies.

Jeremy Rifkin's book, The Zero Marginal Cost Society, is at times thrilling, at times encyclopedic, and at times possibly hyperbolic. It is very well-written, it touches on an incredibly wide variety of modern topics, it builds on an exhaustive set of references, and most importantly it makes you think seriously about the future. You cannot possibly read this book without pausing at least a half a dozen times to ponder. There were parts of the book that presented me with completely new facts, claims, technologies, and predictions. Read more » about Who Will Pay for the Zero Marginal Cost Society?

Comcast Corp. v. FCC is a 2010 United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia case holding that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not have ancillary jurisdiction over Comcast’s Internet service under the language of the Communications Act of 1934. In so holding, the Court vacated a 2008 order issued by the FCC that asserted jurisdiction over Comcast’s network management polices and censured Comcast from interfering with its subscribers' use of peer-to-peer software. Read more » about Comcast Corporation v. Federal Communications Commission

"Here’s how Barbara van Schewick of Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society puts it: “Access fees would significantly increase the costs of offering applications, content and services, which would fundamentally change the environment for innovation and free speech on the Internet. ... Large companies will usually be able to pay access fees. By contrast, start-ups or other innovators without significant outside funding would not be able to pay these fees, putting them at an immediate competitive disadvantage to established companies that can pay.”"Read more » about Why you should be worried about net neutrality

"In an in-depth blog post written in the wake of Wheeler’s initial comments, Stanford Law School professor Barbara van Schewick argued that critics of the FCC’s proposed rulemaking were right to speak up and that the agency should seriously consider reclassifying internet access as a public utility, despite having declined to take that approach previously.Read more » about FCC's Wheeler Tries to Clarify Net Neutrality Stance, Again

"“We know that users will leave a service if it is slow to load, or if it is unreliable,” said attorney Marvin Ammori, a fellow with the New America Foundation who advises start-ups on net neutrality. “If your competitor is faster, you need to match them.”"Read more » about FCC Move Seen as Disaster for Online Start-Ups

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On 24th February, the 2015 Digital Leaders Annual Lecture, ‘Digital Democracy,’ will take place at the Houses of Parliament.

The lecture will be hosted by Chloe Smith MP; the lecturer is Dr. Ben Scott, Senior Advisor to the Open Technology Institute at the New America Foundation in Washington DC and a Visiting Fellow at the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung in Berlin. Read more » about Digital Leaders Annual Lecture 2015

ACS, The Center on the Legal Profession, and The Center for Internet and Society are pleased to welcome Valarie Kaur to lead a discussion of storytelling, media, and the law. We will screen Kaur's film Alienation and Kaur will lead a discussion of the film and her approach to telling legal stories in the public sphere. Read more » about Storytelling Law: An Evening with Valarie Kaur